From her motorized wheelchair, Stephanie Burroughs could just see the gift for her granddaughter, stacked between other toys on a folding table. She asked one jolly ol' elf to reach onto a table and grab it for her.

"Let me get those headphones right there," Burroughs said. "My granddaughter would love those." 

Bill Nyhok gladly retrieved the headgear and dropped them into an already half-full black plastic trash bag. The Penfield man remembers when the offerings at the Salvation Army's annual Toy Shop included used toys and clothing. Now, at its West Avenue operations center in Rochester, the selection is expansive and all the goods are new, or homemade. 

"I've been doing this for years," Nyhok said. "It's good. A good thing." 

Good for the 1,100 people who signed up in November and qualified for the free holiday gift spree. Good for the 3,000 to 4,000 children who'll benefit from the selection available, thanks to the Toys For Tots and Red Kettle campaigns. 

Good for people like Burroughs — a bus accident left her disabled and unable to work. She made her second visit to the Toy Shop for the youngest in her family.

"I feel blessed that this is here. It makes me happy that people would want to offer this. It gives people like me a chance to provide for the holidays," Burroughs said. 

Toy Shop shoppers are led by helpers, or "angels," as staff calls them. They tour a central storeage area where everything from action figures and dolls, mix with board games, footballs, scooters and other Santa staples. Toys are sorted by age groups. Books, puzzles and stuffed animals lay at another end of the tour. Shoppers finish by receiving a bag of holiday food from volunteeers. 

"When I see the people here smiling, my heart gets filled with joy," said Captain Dolores Minaya of the Salvation Army. "Our world is upside down, but there are still people with good hearts. "